The agency rocked in recent years by the largest corruption scandal in Mississippi history wants to be allowed more secrecy with its public records.

I'll let that sink in.

Mississippi Department of Corrections officials — charged with locking up people who don't follow the law — on Wednesday whined to a panel of lawmakers that following the state's public records laws is too onerous.

"There should be some limits on what you are transparent about," Corrections Commissioner Pelicia Hall told the Senate Corrections Committee.

Trust me, commissioner, in Mississippi there are many, many limits to what state government is transparent about. There have been some improvements, but overall Mississippi has barely joined the 21st Century in access to public records.

"The Public Records Act shouldn't be used as a fishing expedition," Hall said.

No, it should be used as sunshine, a disinfectant for the type of corruption that landed one of your predecessors and about a dozen others in prison. It should be used to help prevent long-running bribery and kickback schemes that tainted nearly $1 billion in MDOC contracts using taxpayers' money.

Hall said her agency is "inundated" with public records requests and a lawyer for the agency told lawmakers that — gasp — people requesting records "want to hold us strictly to the Public Records Act." And when it doesn't comply, those same pesky people have the impudence and audacity to file a complaint with the state Ethics Commission, as is allowed under public records law.

They pointed out that there is only one attorney at MDOC handling the large number of public records requests the agency receives. Well, maybe task someone else to help do what should be a major priority and responsibility for a large public entity. Also, I believe a lot of these requests could be handled without an attorney's assistance — which, too, is spelled out in state records law.

By rights, MDOC, the Department of Marine Resources and some other state agencies — given their corrupt pasts, should pro forma have to post their records online without being asked, or maybe read them aloud in public once a month.

MDOC did not specify what exemptions it wants beyond a break from the 14-day compliance requirement. By late week, no bill had been filed in the Legislature, but it sounds like one is likely coming.

It should be called "The Mississippi Obfuscation and Inviting More Public Corruption and overall Middle Finger to the Tax-Paying Public Records Act."

This is a Madison County Detention Center booking photograph taken May 17, 2017, in Canton, Miss., of former state corrections commissioner Chris Epps.(Photo11: Madison County Sheriff's Department via AP)